


good (to be home)

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: dare to dance [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Post-Episode: s09e25 Hana Mao 'Ole Ka Ua O Waianae (Endlessly Pours the Rain of Waianae), Pre-Episode: s10e01 Ua 'eha Ka 'ili I Ka Maka O Ka Ihe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 06:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20902979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: In the aftermath of Jerry's shooting, Kono returns home to Oahu.





	good (to be home)

After a lifetime of being surrounded by cops and nearly a decade of being one herself, Kono Kalakaua had come to hate the sound produced by a ringing phone. In her experience, it brought bad news more often than it didn’t. So, when she received a call from home at one o’clock on a dreary morning in mid-May, she knew well before she answered that good news wouldn’t be awaiting her on the other end of the line.

Steve’s voice wavered as he uttered a greeting, and that was when true panic set in. It wasn’t often that he was shaken enough for it to be so immediately obvious. The last time had been four months previous, when Grace was in an operating room fighting for her life.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded immediately, sitting straight up in bed. “Did something happen? Is everybody okay?”

“_Jerry was shot_,” he told her simply. “_Hit by a bullet meant for me_.”

“Oh, my God,” she murmured. “Is he…” She couldn’t even bring herself to complete the sentence.

“_They stabilized him. He wasn’t alert when they got him to the hospital, though. They’re not positive it’ll go his way once they get him on the table. I just figured you’d want to know, either way_.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Thank you for calling, for letting me know. I’ll see you soon, okay? I’m - I’ll be booking the first flight out.”

“_No, you’re not. Kono, you’ve got your own cases to prepare for there_,” he protested. “_And there’s nothing for you to do here right now. We’ve already got the person responsible. You should stay put, focus on what you’re able to do instead of what you can’t_.”

“That’s never once worked on you. Why did you think it’d work on me?”

“_Because you’re supposed to be less stubborn than me_,” he replied pointedly.

She scoffed humorlessly. “Who exactly have you been talking to? Because nobody who’s ever actually met me would ever say that.” She tossed aside the covers, wincing as her feet hit the cool tile of the floor. “Hey, I have to go, look up flights home, but will you please keep me in the loop? If you hear anything else…”

“_Yeah, of course_,” he assured her. “_The second I hear, you’ll be my first call_.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I’ll let you know when I’ll be in. Steve,” she added quickly, just before they ended the call, “thank you for calling.”

“_Of course_,” he replied, as though it was the most ridiculous thanks he’d ever received. “_Have a safe flight_.”

“I’ll do my best,” she promised.

She collapsed back against the mattress after ending the call, exhaling loudly and allowing her eyes to drift shut for just a moment. There was so much she needed to do, calls she had to make and suitcases she needed to pack, but she needed a few seconds to just_ breathe_, to prepare herself. She’d conquer what she needed to when the time came. Until then, she really needed the break.

She sat up when the clock on the nightstand read 1:07, reaching for her phone and beginning the search for a plane home. Steve was right. She couldn’t do anything other than that. She’d get home, she’d make sure Jerry pulled through, and then she’d fall apart. That was the order things were being done in. There wasn’t any other option.

-o-

It took twelve hours for her to touch down in Honolulu. She spent ten of them on a plane, surrounded by strangers and struggling to breathe evenly, to not let her mind go to worse-case scenarios, to not mentally recite the names of those they’d already lost. When the plane was safely on the ground and she was able to turn her phone back on, the message she’d been simultaneously waiting for and dreading awaited her.

**He made it out of surgery**, Steve had written five hours earlier. **The doctors are optimistic.**

She nodded to herself as she read the words, a single tear running down her cheek as relief overtook her entire body, and then laughed quietly, incredulously, feeling lighter than she had in longer than she could remember.

The airport wasn’t exactly crowded when she arrived, seeing as it was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, but it wasn’t empty, either, so it took a few seconds for her to catch sight of him. When she did, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“I told you I’d get a cab,” she called as she approached. “You should be at the hospital.”

“Everyone else is, and there’s only two visitors allowed at a time,” Steve replied. “And there was no chance of me letting you take a cab.”

“Yeah, I know,” she acquiesced, returning his tight embrace with equal fervor and then smiling up at him as she pulled away. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Anytime,” he returned, reaching for her suitcase and pointedly ignoring her amused smirk. “You bring anything else with you?”

She shook her head. “Don’t exactly have much with me on the road. Everything I own these days fits in there.”

“That’s… impressive,” he commented, eyeing the suitcase dubiously as they made their way towards the exit. “So, how are things? How’s work?”

“Work is… work. It’s the same as always,” she sighed, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the bright afternoon sun as they stepped outside. “How about you?”

“It’s been interesting, lately,” he admitted. “Even before the shooting.”

“Yeah, sounds like it. I’ve heard some things from Danny.” She waited for him to unlock his truck, then pulled open the passenger-side door and climbed inside, settling in her seat.

“Oh, I see,” Steve grumbled good-naturedly as he slid behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. “So it’s only me you don’t call or write.”

“We talk every other day,” she reminded him amusedly. “And I text you. I’m not going to write letters, McGarrett – it’s not the 1980s. Face it, my friend, you’re the one who doesn’t call or write.”

“Maybe,” he admitted lightly before growing serious once more. “Are you sure everything’s all right with work? You haven’t exactly sounded like yourself in a few weeks, or… well, since Gracie’s accident, honestly.”

“I got a job offer,” she informed him, refusing to meet his gaze. “When I was here after Gracie’s accident. Before I left, Captain Hale told me one of her sergeants wasn’t coming back after maternity leave and asked if I would be interested in taking over the unit.”

“Yeah? And what’d you say?” Steve asked, his tone forcedly indifferent.

“I told her I’d have to think about it. She gave me until next week. That’s when the current sergeant’s due,” she explained.

“That’s… you’re coming down to the wire there, Kono.” He cleared his throat. “You decide yet?”

“I hadn’t. Not until you called me at one o’clock this morning.” She finally glanced over at him, meeting his gaze. “I can’t keep this up. I can’t be thousands of miles away when bad things are happening here. I thought I’d be able to handle it, but… Danny was shot, and Gracie was in an accident, and now, with Jerry...” She shrugged. “Not to mention the fact that you do something idiotic about every other day, I mean, I need to be here.”

“You’re coming home, then?” Steve checked hopefully.

“Yeah,” she replied, her smile more honest than it’d been at any point since she’d left. “I’m coming home.”

-o-

Kono drew in a shaky breath as Steve pulled the truck into the hospital parking lot half an hour later. “I always forget how much I hate hospitals until I’m about to walk into one,” she admitted.

“Not a big fan myself,” Steve returned evenly, silencing the engine. “If I got my way, we’d never have any reason to be in one again.”

“We’re cops. You’re never going to get your way,” she informed him helpfully.

“I’m aware. The worst thing didn’t happen here today, though. I’m choosing to focus on that.”

“Seems like a good thing to focus on,” she agreed, pushing her door open and jumping from the cab to the ground. “So, how exactly did she get a gun past security? Aren’t there, like, half a dozen metal detectors to walk through before they’ll even let you in the elevator?”

“One,” he corrected amusedly, waiting for her to circle the vehicle and then falling into step beside her. “And she brought in a plastic gun. Metal detectors didn’t stand a chance.” He shrugged when she glanced over at him. “Hell hath no fury, I guess. She wanted revenge for what we did to her husband.”

“Hell of a time to get it, right in front of her kid,” Kono muttered bitterly.

“I guess she figured it was an important thing for him to see.” Steve waited for her to step through the automatic doors, then followed her in. “We’re going to have to increase security.”

“Remember those x-ray machines you thought were stupid? Might want to reconsider them,” Kono suggested.

“Believe me, Danny’s already told me.” They arrived before the closed elevator doors, and he reached over to request their floor. “Adam’s here,” he informed her, though the words sounded like more of a warning than anything else.

“I promise not to get into a screaming match with my ex-husband in the middle of a hospital waiting room,” she replied wryly.

“Didn’t think for a second you would,” he assured her. “Just figured you might want a heads-up, that’s all.”

“Oh. Well, thank you. It’s appreciated.” The elevator doors opened at last, and they stepped inside. “How’s he doing?” she asked after a moment. “Is he… okay?”

“He’s fine. Busy,” Steve supplied. “I think he’s seeing somebody.”

“I hope so,” Kono replied honestly. “I want him to be happy.”

“You know, he’s said the same about you. More than once. You two might be the friendliest divorced couple I’ve ever known.”

“Aren’t Danny and Rachel sleeping together?” Kono questioned as the elevator doors opened once more.

“Yes,” Steve confirmed. “Which makes them the weirdest divorced couple I’ve ever known.”

Kono smirked. “Makes perfect sense.”

The waiting room was full when they stepped inside. Most of their friends were either asleep or halfway there, suggesting they’d spent most of their night in the uncomfortable chairs.

Danny glanced up from the book he’d been reading to Charlie when the door closed behind them, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of Kono. “You’re here,” he greeted quietly. “I wasn’t sure whether or not Steve was actually planning some sort of elaborate prank.”

“No, I’m actually here,” Kono assured him. “I’d hug you, but…” she nodded to Charlie, half-asleep on his father’s shoulder. “He looks extremely comfortable.”

“He didn’t sleep more than an hour last night,” Danny told her. “Too worried about his Uncle Jerry.”

Kono smiled involuntarily. “Sweet kid you’ve got there, Danny. Both of them,” she added, nodding to Grace. The teenager was asleep on her boyfriend’s shoulder, her phone resting in her lap.

“Rachel came to get them earlier, but they refused to leave,” Danny murmured.

“Wanting to be there for the people they love? Well, that’s it, Danny. No chance of you denying them now,” she teased gently.

“Says the woman who flew over four thousand miles in twelve hours,” Danny countered. “And what were you thinking, telling Steve you’d let someone else pick you up at the airport? You have _met _the man, have you not?”

“I have,” she laughed quietly. “And I apologize for that. I suffered a temporary bout of insanity.”

“We can go see Jerry, if you want,” Steve offered once both the detectives had fallen into a comfortable silence once more. “Two are allowed in there at a time. Anybody else back there?”

Danny shook his head. “Adam and Zoey headed down to the cafeteria about half an hour ago. Everyone else went home to change into fresh clothes and grab a few hours’ rest. Everyone visited with Jerry first, though. He’s a little loopy still, but he seemed to be in pretty high spirits when I was in there.”

“That’s good to hear,” Kono murmured, drawing in a deep breath. “Let’s go back and see him.”

“Okay,” Steve agreed easily, standing once more from the seat he’d just settled in and leading her down the hallway. After about a minute, he paused outside a closed door. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “I just…”

He seemed to understand what she couldn’t say. “He’s okay,” he promised once more. “You don’t have to worry anymore, all right?”

She nodded once, then turned the knob slowly and walked into the room. Jerry was propped against a few pillows, hooked up to a few machines. He was awake, though, and he turned his head to smile at them the second the door closed behind them.

“Kono,” he greeted, his surprise conveyed through his tone. “I didn’t – you didn’t have to come.”

“Don’t worry. I needed to use some frequent flyer miles,” she replied, claiming the chair Steve gestured to and moving it nearer the bed. “I heard you were a hero. You saved the boss from a crazy woman with a plastic gun.”

“She was crazy,” Jerry agreed drowsily. “Who even thinks ahead that much?”

“Someone with a huge chip on her shoulder. I’m just glad everybody got out of there alive,” she smiled.

“What about you?” Jerry questioned tiredly. “Aren’t you supposed to be working with your task force?”

“I was when I got the call, yes,” she admitted. “But I think I’m about done with my task force. I think it’s about time to come home.”

“Oh. Well, I’m glad you’re back,” he told her. “Hasn’t been the same since you left. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” She smiled gently when his eyelids fluttered. “You should get some more rest,” she suggested softly. “I’ll come by to see you again later, all right?”

“Okay,” Jerry agreed, stifling a yawn.

Kono leaned down to hug him, then pulled away and, with a final wave goodbye, walked out into the hallway.

“Hey,” Steve murmured, closing the door behind him. He took in the expression on her face, his eyes widening slightly with concern.

“I’m taking the job,” she told him resolutely.

“Okay,” he replied slowly. “You already told me you were.”

“No, I know. I just…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I should’ve taken it when I came to visit after Grace’s accident, I just - I can’t keep not being here. I can’t keep being this person everybody misses just ’cause she’s never around.”

“We miss you for more than that,” he assured her softly. “We do. And I’m not going to try to talk you out of staying. You’re right. We miss you.”

“I miss you too,” she murmured. “And the weather,” she added after a moment, grinning at the way he shook his head with an exasperated smile. “I miss the weather most of all.”

“The weather, not the water?” Steve checked.

“Oh, definitely the water. Can’t believe I forgot about the water.” She sighed as they once again boarded the elevator. “It’ll be good to be back,” she reiterated, glancing around as they made their way out to the parking lot. “Really good.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “It will be.”

-o-

Jerry ordered them away from the hospital after their morning visit the following day. “I have to be here. You don’t. Go do something with your day,” he insisted.

They ended up at Steve’s when it was all said and done, grilling out and talking as the kids splashed about in the ocean.

Kono was staring off into space when Steve arrived at her side, a beer to replace the one she’d just finished in tow. “You okay?” he checked, handing her the bottle and then sinking onto the chair next to her.

“Thanks. And I’m fine,” she promised. “I just…” She nodded to Adam and Zoey Yang, both of them laughing over something the kids were doing a little way down the beach. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him so happy, that’s all. I don’t know if I ever made him that happy,” she added with a self-deprecating laugh. “Now that I think about it, that’s probably why we’re not married anymore.”

“Hey. The divorce isn’t just your fault,” he told her firmly. “Just because you filed…”

“No, I know,” she assured him. “I did the right thing by both of us. Seeing him like that just… it makes me even surer of that, that’s all.”

“Glad to hear it,” Steve replied. “So, I heard you’re taking over Sergeant Carter’s unit. Gangs, huh?”

“I’ve gotten a crash course in them over the years,” she pointed out. “How many gang wars did we prevent in those first few months alone?”

“Enough to give you plenty of experience,” he answered vaguely. “You’re going to do great.”

“I hope so.” She took another swig of beer. “Hey, if I make it the first week without blowing something up, can we agree I’m less insane than you are?”

“You should try to make it a year!” Danny called, overhearing the very end of their conversation.

“No way I’d make it a year,” she volleyed back, her attention still on Steve.

“If you make it a week, sure,” Steve agreed amusedly. “Are you confident in your chances?”

“Not at all,” she admitted. “But I’m going to try my hardest, if only to prove Danny wrong.”

“Yeah. The longer you lead a unit, the more you realize how very many things you do for the sole purpose of proving Danny wrong.”

“Mm. We really sound like evolved, mentally sound people right now, don’t we?” Kono questioned with a smirk.

“Any other group of people would be ready to send us away to the asylum,” Steve replied. “Luckily for us, we don’t have any friends willing to call us out on our craziness.”

“Mostly because they’re all crazy themselves,” Kono tacked on.

“That’s a contributing factor,” he agreed. “Hey,” he added more seriously. “Good to have you home, Kono.”

“Mm,” she murmured, tapping her bottle against his and then glancing around, taking in her surroundings with a content smile. “Good to be home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't exactly planning to start an entirely different series for this season's one-shots, but I ended up doing it anyway. Just for background information: Kono returned home when Danny was shot and also after Gracie's accident, but went back to the task force afterwards. I will forever be peeved she wasn't in any way mentioned in either of those episodes. Chin either, for that matter. So, you know, I rewrote history. It's my fanfic, I can do what I want to.


End file.
